a little spice goes a long way

from october to april, i spend my monday nights feeding the homeless men in the lexington area. it is a program affiliated with rescue mission called room in the inn. several groups in lexington take part in the room in the inn project. each take a different night. they pick up the men, serve them dinner, try to engage them in normal adult conversation, and then provide overnight accomidations, buffet breakfast and a sack lunch. lexington does not have a particularly harsh winter and so therefore we have a high homeless population. most of the homeless men i've met have jobs. no one i've met has struck me as particularly unbalanced. if we smell alcohol on you more than once, you are kicked out of the program for good, so i know at least on monday nights, these guys are sober. i don't understand homelessness and probably never will. but its a good program and i'm glad to be a part of it. this is the first summer that we've done anything during the summer. there really isn't a need, its just that we've developed friendships with many of the men in the program and want to see them over the summer. so on the third monday of every month, we are having dinner but none of the overnight stuff. during the winter, the menu is all planned out and i'm given specific tasks, like bring two potpies and here is the recipe. during the summer, i just need to show up with a dish or two of something. tonight i'm bringing curried chicken salad and whole wheat pitas. i got the recipe from my boss's wife, who is just the cutest, shortest, sweetest person you could ever meet.

curried chicken salad

3 cups cubed, cooked chicken (or a couple of cans of chicken)
1 cup sliced grapes
1 cup cooked rice
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 t salt
1/8 t onion salt
3 T lemon juice
1-2 T curry power (i think 1 is sufficient but maybe you'd like more)
toasted almonds to taste

mix everything all together and serve on bread or mixed greens or crackers or whatever you like to eat chicken salad on top of. i'm a fan of chicken salad and tuna salad and macaroni salad, etc. this is a great variation. its still cool and creamy but the rice and curry give it a little something extra. enjoy.